Victims urged to bring violence 'out of closet'

Victims of domestic violence in gay and lesbian relationships are being urged to report the crime to police, as part of a new campaign.

The New South Wales Police Force's "Bring Domestic Violence out of the Closet" campaign will be launched in Sydney today, as part of the Mardi Gras.

Broken Hill police officer Sergeant Brad Scanlan says the level of domestic violence in the gay and lesbian community is almost certainly under-reported.

"It's one of the invisible crimes," Sgt Scanlan said.

"Lots of crime gets reported because it has no emotion attached to it - people will report their cars stolen, they'll report damage, break-in to properties and things because - there is a degree of emotion attached to it, don't get me wrong - but something like domestic violence, something like homophobic violence, something like child abuse, is one of those difficult subjects that no one actually wants to talk about."

He is urging people to report the crime to police.

"One thing that's become apparent in the GLBTI community is domestic violence," he said.

"Now in the same way that we came out of the closet in a sexual sense, this strategy is about promoting the idea of bringing family violence out of the closet and into the open."